Attorneys General Request Miller, A-B Documents
Jeremy Mullman and Ira Teinowitz
Advertising Age
February 20, 2008
CHICAGO (AdAge.com) -- A group of state attorneys
general is asking Miller Brewing Co. and Anheuser-Busch
for internal documents related to their marketing of
alcoholic energy drinks.
Attorneys general from Maine, Maryland, Iowa, Arizona
and New York are among those who have asked the brewers
for documents, according to A-B. A spokeswoman for the
Maine attorney general's office declined to comment on
the request.
The AGs first challenged the marketers over these
products last August when they wrote a letter to the
federal Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau --
which approves product labels -- asking it to
investigate misleading marketing claims made by products
such as Miller's Sparks and A-B's Bud Extra.
Tax questions
In their letter, the attorneys general singled out
Sparks and Bud Extra, as well as a third company, Charge
Beverages, for having "taken advantage of the youth
appeal by engaging in aggressive marketing campaigns ...
[that] claim that such beverages increase a person's
stamina or energy level. However, they do not mention
the potentially severe, adverse consequences of mixing
caffeine with alcohol."
The attorneys general also asked the bureau to explore
whether the beverages ought to be taxed as distilled
spirits and not malt-based beverages, which would have
greatly increased their cost in most states. But the
bureau found that the drinks were taxed appropriately.
A-B: Regulation should apply to all
In a statement, A-B said it was cooperating with the
subpoenas, which were first reported by The Wall Street
Journal's website. But A-B contends it is merely
competing in a category established by caffeinated
cocktails such as rum and Coke and Red Bull and vodka.
"If the attorneys general truly believe that -- despite
the state and federal regulatory approvals -- alcohol
and caffeine should not be mixed, then they should use
their powers to persuade these authorities to regulate
or ban all such beverages, not just the lower-alcohol,
prepackaged ones."
In a statement, a Miller spokesman also pledged to
cooperate with the subpoenas, while noting that the
beverages and their packaging are in compliance with
regulations.
The marketing of caffeinated, alcoholic beverages is
expected to be addressed in a forthcoming report from
the Federal Trade Commission.